The American Dream Analysis

Author: Edward Albee (1928-present), an American playwright that wrote in the Theater of the Absurd and often examined the modern condition in his plays.

Setting: The living room of Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma's apartment located in a city.  The play takes place within the 1950s-1960s. 

Significant Characters: 

Grandma- Considered the old “American Dream”. She has a way of controlling the plot through her comments and at the end of the play she even exits the action and speaks from an outside perspective like a director. 

Mommy- Immature, controlling, attention-seeking, masculine, and manipulative.  She threatens Grandma that she will be taken away and takes away Daddy’s masculinity to manipulate the characters.  She is far from the ideal house-wife and uses the other characters in the play.  She was born poor and married into money.

Daddy- Emasculated/Feminine, immature, and passive.  Daddy does whatever mommy tells him too and even was said in the play to possess female “parts”.

Mrs. Barker- Works at Bye-Bye Adoption Service and she is responsible for giving Mommy and Daddy their first child.  She is the chairman of the women’s club and represents the socially responsible housewife.  She often rather oblivious to the things around her and speaks to the characters in the play as though she is better than them.

Young Man- A representation of the “American Dream”.  He is the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first child that Mrs. Barker gave them.  He is strong and attractive but lacks substance.  He has not been able to feel since his twin brother was murdered and will do anything for money.  He is the satisfaction that Mommy and Daddy have been searching for.

Plot: The characters are all seeking some sort of satisfaction but they are not sure where to get it.  The story begins with Mommy talking to daddy about a new hat she bought.  She had a debate with Mrs. Barker about what color her hat was and told daddy about how she got "satisfaction".  Throughout this part of the story Mommy constantly asks daddy to repeat what she says.  Daddy faithfully and un-enthusiastically replies correctly every time.  Grandma comes out and Mommy and Daddy began to complain about how much of a burden she is around the house and mommy keeps bringing up sending her away to a nursing home.  Mommy and Daddy complement on how nicely Grandma wrapped her boxes but do not care what lays inside.  Grandma shows that she is ashamed of how mommy turned out.  Mrs. Barker then comes to the door and the characters, including Mrs. Barker, try to figure out why she is here.  Mommy then meets a young man out near the elevator who is very attractive.  Grandma begins a long conversation with the young man where it is revealed that Mommy and Daddy used to have a son.  Grandma says that they killed and mutilated him for being a "bad boy".  The young man tells Grandma that he used to have a twin brother and at this point it can be easily inferred that Mommy and Daddy's son was the young man's twin.  The young man says that without his brother he is empty and hollow on the inside and cannot feel emotion.  He is willing to do anything for money.  Grandma then leaves and the young man replaces her.  Mommy and Daddy do not seems to care that Grandma left because now they have a new "son" that has no emotion and is aesthetically pleasing.  For Mommy and Daddy this is their satisfaction.  The play ends hinting at incest between Mommy and the young man, and Grandma breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience saying, “Let’s leave things as they are right now… while everybody’s happy… while everybody’s got what he wants… or everybody’s got what he thinks he wants. Good night, dears”.

Narrative Voice/Author Style: 

- There is no point of view as it is a play, however Grandma moves the plot along with her dialogue and has the ability to in and out of the action of the play.  At the end of the play she has a narrator-like position.

- The tone is critical and comical.  The author criticize modern society and it’s materialism and shallowness however he does this in a rather comical way.

- There is little imagery in the play as it tends to be rather vague due to its absurdist style however the mutilating of the baby was described in great detail to represent the savageness of consumerism.

Symbols: 

Grandma - Represents the old “American Dream”

Mommy and Daddy - Represent the American middle/lower class 

Mrs. Barker- Represents socially responsible housewife

Young Man - Represents the “American Dream”   

Grandma’s Boxes- Represent the shallowness of society.  Mommy and Daddy only observe the outside of the boxes but do not care what is inside. 

Mutilated Baby- Represents the savageness of consumerism.Theme: 

Theme: 

A major theme in this play is that the "American Dream" is not what it used to be.  Albee chastises society for its change in values.  The "American Dream" is represented by the young man.  Grandma, who represents the "old American Dream" had pride and substance too her.  She may not have been the most beautiful person on the outside but she says exactly what she means and is honest with everyone.  She is not shallow and does not value money more than other pleasures in life.  On the contrary, the current "American Dream" has no substance to him but looks attractive on the outside.  He does not have any feelings and is willing to do anything for money.  This represents that the American Dream is shallow.  This is meant to show that people only care about aesthetic appeal these days and have lost their pride to earn money doing something meaningful and worthwhile.  The imagery of the mutilating of the baby is used to show how mutilated the "American Dream" has become.